Monday, June 15, 2015

TOS Review - CTC Math

CTC Math is an online program that presents short video lessons followed by tests, called questions. The questions are also in an online, fill-in-the bubble style of on-screen test. Though, there are some features that are printable, such as the lesson summaries, as well as test results. Also included are Speed Drills. The lessons are presented with visuals of the math concept being learned for that specific lesson - Not a teacher standing in front of a classroom lecturing.

The 12 Month Family Plan allows you to use it with up to ten children. There are diagnostic tests and also Speed Skills games. Lesson Summaries and Test Results can be easily printed for record keeping or reference. The program also generates weekly updates in the form of an email that comes directly to the parent/teacher's inbox.

The program covers Kindergarten through Trigonometry, Algebra, Geometry and Calculus, with family plans for up to ten children.

I thought that allowing the program to be used for up to ten children was wonderful for many homeschooling families who have several children to teach. Since we don't have ten children, I will share how two of my children put the 12-Month Family Plan to use in learning math.

How Did We Use It?

I was most excited that my oldest son was offered the opportunity to use this program. Not only because he is an online learning junkie, but he also is now in high school and I am looking for curriculum to give him proper higher level math instruction. My son is unique in that he really excels when unschooled rather than following textbooks. So, my main concern was where to place him. The Algebra seemed to be almost too easy, bu then the Calculus was almost too challenging. Thankfully, there are diagnostic tests that paint a clearer picture of what the student knows before deciding on where to place them. In the end, geometry was the winner for where to begin, which was perfect since he loves, breathes, sleeps and eats computer coding and especially dealing with 2D/3D on-screen animations.

I also checked out what CTC had to offer for my youngest, who is 8 but has a birthday that falls in late September. This technically put her in 2nd grade this year, but she has been doing some 3rd grade work. So, I was excited to see where she actually placed.

I first had her complete a diagnostic test for her grade level, and she mastered it. So, I was confident to know that starting her off at the next grade level would be ok.

The graphics for my younger daughter's level were so wonderfully colorful, and the short lesson presentations work so much better for this little antsy, can't-sit-still, easily bored learner. The way the lessons are presented in very short, 2-minute or so snippets, made these online math lessons so much more appealing for her.

What Did We Think?

I like how the lessons are usually just short, presenting only the facts that are needed to master that particular lesson, a little bit of information at a time, so as not to overload the student. On a side note, we also love the instructor's voice and accent - So pleasant to listen to that you almost forget you're learning a somewhat complicated core subject.

I love how you can print out the test results and also are able to print out the lesson summaries of each lesson. These printouts provide an at-a-glance resource for learning. I love that some of the high-school level lessons also have printable worksheets.

I appreciate how it gives the student three tries to achieve higher scores on the tests if they didn't get everything right the first try. It then averages the total percentage from the three tries to provide a final percentage, which can so easily be translated into a letter grade for the transcripts. The final averaged grade really reflects the child's true ability.